The problem with replacing silver with copper in anything electrical is silver will always be better. From what I know of solar panels they are only getting ~5 year lifespans with copper designs vs 25+ years with silver AND the power density is a lot worse (ie need more space per watts). For certain products like solar panels it is hard to see people willing to get the fridge planned obsolescence 5 year treatment when they were used to 20+ years before. But for certain industrial usages you could see it being an option if it was cheaper and they only needed them for a few years anyhow.
Panels are already cheap enough for most people to have their entire household usage covered with $3000-$5000 AUD worth of them. Even if silver triples the price increase per panel isn't crazy. It is the battery tech not allowing everyone to live off the grid yet and it is likely some silver based graphene technology will be the best option there too.
